The Nights of Las Noches
by LittleMissNothing
Summary: The edited and revised 'Littleredridingwho' The nights of las noches story.Ulquiorra stole her fom the ones she loved, to the court he was her captor and she was his prisoner,only at night could they be together,but can a creature without a heart love.
1. Prologue

**_A/N :Due to unfortunate circumstances I no longer have acces of my Littleredridingwho a/c,..but I am editing and revising the story...I hope you enjoy it and that it is even better!sorry 'bout this!_**

**_Disclaimer:I don't own bleach_**

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_Should I be feeling guilty or let the judges frown._

_..._

_I saw you were blind and knew I had won_

_So I took whats mine by eternal right, took your soul out into the night._

_..._

_Ive been addicted to you,_

_I'm so hollow._

_- **Goodbye my lover**_

_**PROLOGUE**_

It seemed inconceivable that my existence could be altered so dramatically. it was irrevocable what this simple human girl had done to me.

In this barren landscape which consists only of rock and grey ash, it shall serve well as my grave. My true death will occur here, but I am somewhat honoured to be defeated by this orange haired shinigami that stands before me all blood and proud.

I can see now why you had spent those many a nights in Las Noches crying for him.

He is noble and valiant someone perhaps worthy of your heart, far worthier than I.

The heart, what a terribly fragile and human emotion.

What is the heart?

I had never before allowed my thoughts to dwell on somethingso pointless. Something so repulsively human.

That was of course before I had met you.

I found myself fascinated by you, always in rapture of your presence both consciously and sub consciously.

Even now you take my breath away with your hair flaming out like tongues of fire and your angelic face crying.

This is the end I will cease to exist but you will burn ever brighter my amber haired girl.

My mind casts back to the moments we have shared. A strange foreign feeling washes over me. I feel longing and sorrow.

What is this emotion? Ah yes, I believe you humans call it regret.

Regret, I see no worth in such an emotion, yet I cannot repress the thought that overwhelms me.

_Did I disappoint you or let you down?_

My body aches to hold you one last time, like the stolen glances and touches we had once shared.

Those nights we had spent. I remember how your sighs had filled me, the taste of your skin and the feel of your body moulded to mine.

In those moments we were all to exist just you and I. My flesh filling you till you could hold no more.

Skin to skin.

How we had both screamed out loud and hadn't cared who heard.

I had taken away your Innocence.

It was inevitable that it would end despite your reassurances that love was powerful, always claiming it would be alright as long as we believed in us and that we would never be apart.

You foolish little girl.

A dream does not last forever regardless of how precious it is. We had to wake up sometime.

_'cause I saw the end before we'd begun_

How can something love when it's very own heart has been torn out?

Logic told me that it was impossible...but you obstinately persisted that the true heart was hidden within another. Only accessible to that special person.

'How ridiculious' I had replied, it was you who could not see reality or reason.

I asked you countless times to show me that very thing humans branded 'the heart' and I can still recall how your eyes had looked upon me with such kindness as if explaining to a child.

You claimed it was in the hands of the one you adored.

To see is to believe...I had believed that with every fibre of my being, but that first time our lips had met and our moans combined you shattered my pristine control_._

That was the first night we spent together, both our bodies joining in one. My hardness your softness and how our wet bodies had glistened by the light of the lamp.

Your soft lips exploring my dark hollow hole, kissing, licking and tasting it until I could no longer withstand the bittersweet pleasure.

_You touched my heart you touched my soul._

You have the ability to make me feel uncomfortably human whenever I am in your presence, and not for the first time since I have encountered you do I wish I was a mortal.

I was a soldier, a cold emotionless creature following blindly in faith. Not ever questioning authority. I was dead in more ways than one before you.

unaware that what I sought was you.

I turn to look upon your face, no longer fearful of its grace.

You have never turned away from me or ever looked upon me with fear or revulsion, even now your eyes stare into my own. I contemplate what you see within my teal cat eyes.

I drink your beauty in one last time, slowly memorising each detail of your silver blue eyes, the curve of your cheek, the fullness of your pearl lips and your silk fox hair.

_I've kissed your lips held your head_

We have already said our goodbyes, somehow we both knew it would come to this. One of us would fall in the battle, either him or me.

Our bodies had made a promise, conveying words that can't be spoken, emotions that can't be expressed through speech.

I was yours and you were mine.

_I know you well, I know your smell _

I should fall to the ground, it's where I belong. On the filthy dirty floor looking up to you_._

My body has begun decaying, the large black wings slowly dissolving into nothingness to once again join the earth from whence I came. The slight breeze carries my ashes to you.

Even in my most simplest component I still yearn to be with you.

_I've been addicted to you_

Your incandescent eyes tear up, the salty tears threatening to fall again. Their taste still linger in my mouth.

I ache so much to feel your skin, to let my marble fingers feel your radiating warmth for one last time. I outstretch my hand reaching for you.

I ask the question as I did last night the precise moment my body had entered you,

your body which had lay beneath my own and I had marveled at your breasts rising with each ragged breath you took.

How our eyes had locked, the intense passion and lust in yours had reflected my own.

Then I had leaned in and whispered into the shell of your ear,...

''Do I scare you, girl?''

A sad smile now graces your luscious lips, I know you remember.

''I'm not afraid''.

That sweet voice pierces my body, if I had a heart it would surely break to see the pain in your eyes.

The teal tear tracks on my face feel warm and they tingle with a sensation as if true tears were now flowing down them.

You reach out in turn for my hand, your fingers so lightly brushing my own and causing me to disintergrate.

Ironic that in the end I was the weak and fragile one, not you..but then you had never been weak to begin with.

I see it now,..I can see so clearly your heart lying in my hand, It's exquisite.

Your hand remains outstretched towards me in vain. I shall never forget you my precious fox girl. Your flame hair still burns my eyes, scorching my memory and branding me yours.

_I'm so hollow,... I'm so hollow._


	2. The Descent to madness

**_A/N: Again there is editing in this chapter, improved and made better. PLEASE BARE WITH ME! I will catch up the story to chapter 6 very soon! Sorry again!but I have no access to my other account!_**

_Mindless follow the velvet tears,_

_The silent picture is perfect,_

_The architects of our flaws and fears,_

_I know, were nothing but servants,_

_..._

_Silent, damned and strange..._

_**- Deathclub**_

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Within the sculptured white marbled walls of Las Noches the cuatro espada walked apathetically and seamlessly along the endless Monochromatic corridors, the clinical architecture of the building does nothing to break the arrancar from his solemn mood. _White..everything is white, the colour of death_.

The narrow halls are empty, no other sound enters his ears apart from the echoing of his own footfalls. The tap of each step he made resonated along the walls, echoing the emptiness of the night. It felt as if every step he initiated pounded harder into his head, pounding and pounding him further into numbness and oblivion.

Even though this world, _Hueco Mundo,_ was constantly shrouded in an unrelenting darkness with an ever present moon which hung un-waxing in the sky, this period of time would be called '_The night'. _

A sense of Frustration coursed through him to be appointed as the girls guardian, he was the Cuatro-the fourth highest arrancar ranked in power, and he had been instructed to a task no better than that for the lowest hollow. Ulquiorra could not understand why his creator had commanded him to such a duty, but it was a duty spoken from the mouth of his Lord and therefore he did not question it, even if he did not understand. After all it was not his purpose to understand but to obey. _A servant_.

Shaking his head slightly to rid himself of the questions that persisted he continued his journey towards _her_. His steps flowed perfectly, his actions fluid and full of grace, but he still longed to escape the boundaries of Las Noches, if not only for a short time.

He longed for the infinite night sky where he could unfurl his own ebony wings, to soar and dive under the light of the moon. His muscles ached in earnest to stretch and release his pent up energy, to unlesh it's full potential, To bask in the glory of his own destruction. His body and mind yearned for his resurrección form. _True despair.._

However it did not matter what he longed for, it was not of importance, his was to follow orders and obey..Without duty he was nothing, no better than those weak trash, called _humans. _He continued his path towards the west wing, the quarters deigned for guests only, or more appropriately the_ prisoners_, it was in this section of Las Noches where Orihime Inoue was kept.

Despite the fact that Aizen-sama had so profoundly insisted to Orihime Inoue that she was indeed a guest and not a prisoner, it was clear that behind the gentle, temperate smile and language of his master that she was indeed nothing more than a prisoner. The cuatro had after all aided his master in the capture of the girl, not to mention the fact that he had also helped in setting the foundations for psychological cages within the girls mind.

Ulquiorra new all to well the genius and wrath of his Lord, he had seen countless times the rise and fall of his brethren due to his Lords whims. Aizen could easily create thousands of arrancars only to crush them in a second of their first breaths.

Yet somehow, that young girl had stood so firmly and unwavering in the court before Aizen and his disciples, the espada. He recalled how every single arrancar in that room had stared at her so savagely with eyes full of hunger and greed for the amber haired girl.

There were many lower class arrancars that would quake violently simply in the presence of an espada, let alone stand in the presence of their God. A human so weak in comparison to even the lowest hollow had done such a thing, She had stared into the eyes of the most powerful man of both the shinigami and hollow dimensions. Ulquiorra could only imagine the courage it had taken for the frightened girl to do such a thing, he could not help but admire her bravery for such an action, It was admirable, if only a little.

A path diverges before him, one to the right the other to the left, he does not hesitate, there is no need he knows clearly which hall to Choose. The cuatro chose's the right,_ her_ room is at the end of that hall. Starting once again the pattern of measured steps, he continues towards her dorm.

It was his duty to guard and patrol her hall from any arrancars that came in close proximity of the girl. It had not gone unnoticed to fourth the tension and excitement in the air since the girls arrival, Every arrancar within Las Noches had elicited an aura of pure un-distilled hunger for the human.

If it had not been for Aizen's firm rule that any arrancar who harmed the girl would be immediately dispatched, the girl would have surely had her heart ripped out and devoured some time ago.

Ulquiorra had been ordered to kill any of those who were to harm the girl, he suspected that he was to feel some measure of pride for the fact he had been chosen to be her guardian, especially compared to the quinto and the sexta, the girl was clearly important to his creator, that much was clear. He acknowledged that he must be trusted and favoured by his master to be appointed with this duty.

The cuatro rounded the last corner towards her room, he stood motionless, studying the arch of her door and became increasingly aware that merely beyond the wall lay the amber haired girl.

The first thing to hit him as per usual is her scent._The perfume of allurement._Her unique and intoxicating scent burns into his nostrils, reaching and entwining up into his mind, virtually causing all other senses to shut down. _The walls are too thin. _He can sense her spiritual pressure precisely, it Is no stronger than a frightened animal, yet it crashes over him like a wave breaking on the coast. However there is Something staining her reatsu, _Fear? _No, loneliness resonates from the room, the despair and aching is enough to make the fourth shiver from it's force.

Ulquiorra presses his two finger against the bridge of his nose,squeezing gently in a vain attempt to force away the pressure beginning and building in his forehead._ Loss, despair...strong. _After a moment of this technique, he begins the regular patrol of her corridor that will last hours until the end of the night.

He paces back and forth, walking along the porcelain floors until he reaches the end of the hall, only to turn and begin once again the routine path across her chamber.

The Arrancar often paces the hall outside her chamber not being content enough to sit and tonight is no different, he walks the corridor, each step feels slow and exaggerated. A sigh escapes his black lips, frustrated that he must use a human gait. _Slow. Aggravating._

All arrancars have been instructed by Aizen-sama that at all times they must move in human speed within the grounds of Las Noches, of course the only exception for this rule was when engaged in battle, the single opportunity when they could unleash their pent up energy and move freely as desired. _Free. No restrictions. Caged_.

Each step is mundane

_One...two...one...two._

He finds the rhythm and sequence to his steps.

_One...two...one...two._

There was no other creature present except himself and the girl. _Death guarding life_, it was somewhat ironic to the arrancar. A duty of guarding and protecting it was honour to be chosen specifically by Aizen-sama yet he wondered was it truly worth the _torture_ he endures each and every night.

The thrum of her heart assaults his ears, echoing and beating in his head. Louder and louder it seems to become with each passing minute, A melodic torment, sweeter than heaven and harsher than hell. A symphony orchestrated for his ears alone. _A symphony of temptation..._

It is difficult to not listen , the hollow within hungers for the sound, it hungers to hold the vascular organ in its does not help the situation that the entire hall is stained with her scent. Each breath he takes poisons his lungs air burning and racking his throat, thirsting. _Forbidden,..endure it._

There is a fluctuate in her heart beat, the beat becoming irregular and strained, an emotion a kin to worry causes him to stop abruptly and listen closer, he contemplates whether she is unwell or if her health is in immediate attention, Aizen-sama had explained to him once the frailty of humans and their health, informing the cuatro that often stress and fear can cause the cardiac organ to experience strain and stress, ultimately causing the person to experience extreme discomfort and even death. _Duty to protect,.. _

Before he can come to a further conclusion of the situation, he hears the broken sob, the frequency of the sound travels the distance between them clearly, like a chime in the wind. It comes again, the strangled gasp for air followed by the onslaught of tears.

_That foolish human girl is yet again crying_. Her tears have been falling continuously since her arrival in Hueco mundo.

_Tears_

Ulquiorra muses upon this human action, what a strange and almost pathetic way of wasting ones cannot reverse the actions of time or undo the damage inflicted by others. _Pointless and unnecessary._

The amber haired girl often cries with such force that many a time it has exhausted her to sleep. she only seems to allow herself the comfort of rest after enduring countless hours of crying, self inflicting a sorrowful pain that causes her body to shake and quiver.

Annoyance flares in him towards the girl who seems to be insistent on reliving her pain and loss of loved ones. Despite this he knows he cannot help her, he cannot comfort her simply because he does not know how. However it is not so simple as was the one to snatch her away from her world, to rip her apart from her friends and the person she loved._ Stolen._

The foolish girl tries to stifle these tears not wishing for anyone to hear, but he always hears, he was the one assigned to guard her, after all he is her capturer and she is his prisoner. The girl probably despised the very bones of him. _inconsequential_.In the end it did not matter if she accepted him or not, it was irrelevant, beside the point, yet he still felt unsatisfied with such an assumption.

The arrancar takes a deep breath, swallowing the thick lump blocking his throat. _choking_. Each night has become increasingly uncomfortable. His control tested to the last when he guards this epitome of sorrow, her scent filling the hall till it seems that the very air he intakes is like drinking her in. _The scent of life within the palace of death._

His acute sense of hearing detects the girls cries, He now hears the girl attempting to hold her sobs in, a futile effort, no better than putting ones hands up to the sky to stop the fall of rain. The cries become muffled as she continues to ineffectively subdue them, this action is most likely out of embarrassment, the childish girl becoming consciousness of the sound of her cries. He contemplates that perhaps she has her fragile fingers clasped over her mouth tightly, or maybe, she is biting down on a balled up fist to silence the weeping.

The cuarto espada cannot repress the shudder that travels along his spine at the mere thoughts of seeing her pearly white teeth bitting into the creamy flesh of her hand. _Teeth._ cutting deeper. _Skin_. 'till crimson blood. _Torn._ would rise up. _Red . _And stain her lips.

He feels a pressure building in his abdomen, twisting and coiling like chains. He feels his veins begin to throb, burning, almost swelling from the thoughts of her. Combined with her alluring aroma, staining hiis thoughts and senses a small hiss escapes between clenched teeth, all the while the coiling pressure continues to build up and gett increasingly tighter._So hard. _Her scent arouses his more carnal side, inducing a hollowific hunger that has no end or beginning..Drawing a shaky breath and forcing away the beautiful and tragic images of the girl, he composes himself once again. _Her very Tears. Her Scent. Her skin. Intoxicating._

In the end the girls actions at controlling her sorrow is in vain control, as always a few sobs wrench out from her lips and pierce his ears. _like Knives, Piercing. My core._

_Nonsense_. He shakes the thoughts from his mind, taking a breath to steady himself, his skin which has now become faintly brushed in a slight sweat. _fever._ He chants to himself _I am better than this_.

_I am not trash._ Trash like humans who are controlled by such desires. _Trash. Desire. Want. _Never has he felt these desires, never has another caused this reaction_. New. Unfamiliar. Pressure. _

Duty is all that matters, a duty to Aizen-sama. It is what separates him from the trash. To him humans are feeble creatures who run around without care or sense. Always depending on or expecting their 'destiny' to take control. _Foolish __Trash, __No duty._

The espada continues his rhythm of steps. _Her sobs_. He cannot comprehend the precise feeling that washes over him from hearing her weep, of course he is irritated by her weakness but something else resides. _Stupid. Tears and Salt. Alone. Comfort ...Duty._

However tonight the girl, _Orihime Inoue , _has been crying longer than usual, it's late. _why is she not asleep?_.

He finds himself wishing to give her another human to find solace in, anything to cease her _pain. _He momentarily freeze in his step. The steady rhythm wavering. _Her pain?_

How ridiculous he should not care for ' _her pain _' as he had put it. No, he merely wishes to abstain from such unpleasant human sounds, that is all. _That is all. _He continues his pacing while chanting to himself _I do not care for her pain,... _but he cannot understand why this statement feels untrue. _A lie? _No,...Only untrue,...not a lie but not the truth either.

Walking silently along the marble white halls, his light steps not making a sound. Grimmjow has often remarked that he is truly like a feline, sleek and stealthy. _insult. _He is nothing like that former panther- Adjuchas. _Despise. _

This hatred is nothing compared to that he holds for the fifth, Nnoitra...Perhaps a reason why he did not contend his masters wishes was because of the other espada, He thinks now whether _he _is the reason he feels such an urgency particularly for guarding her room at night. The quinto had often displayed bold mannerisms and an attitude that did not belong to an arrancar of his power, Ulquiorra was his superior yet he contested the fourths position by threatening the girl.

Ulquiorra held a boiling hatred for the quinto, mainly due to his lascivious thoughts and actions towards _his Orihime. _The fourthhad often found him eyeing the amber girl lustfully, his eyes straying too long over her form, liking his lips in anticipation. Strange how it had infuriated him. A intolerable hot rage had washed over him. In those times he had wished to rip out his ribcage and make it an accessory to adorn his hollow mask, to signify to others that she is hi-Aizen-sama's. _Not mine. Aizen-sama's._

The teal cat like eyes fleetingly glance to her chamber door. _Counting. _His mind already calculating the distance to reach it, Perhaps it would take five steps.

_One,.. two,... three,... four,... five._

Taking five steps along with five short breaths. Now standing before her door, his body feels disconnected, unlike what he has ever felt before. _Stupid. Frustration. Over analytical. thinking too much._

He contemplates at what moment did he instruct his limbs to move and carry him here?

He can feel her reistsu softly calling, pleading for something. _Want. Need. Alone. Craving. _Her spiritual energy is awash with something that craves. _craves._ It craves for what?...He fails in placing the feeling. _aggravating._

How frustrating, never before has he been around a human for such a long period of time, never before having to be aware of each fickle emotion. It is a challenge for him in understanding their numerous feelings. _yet, this girl..._ This girl of fire is by far the most fascinating mortal that he has ever encountered. _Fascinating, Different. Strange. Unpredictable. _

Her face a canvas through which thousands of different expressions are painted, each one of them that smallest fraction different, always individual. Its puzzling that never twice is the same expression seen. _Unique. _Always altered somehow.

He hears the sniffling of the girl in the room just beyond the door. _Will her tears ever end?_

His pale hand reaches for the door handle._Cold and Hard._ _Not unlike myself_.

Turning it slowly allowing himself just enough time to turn back and change his mind without being detected. _Too late. _

Turning the handle slowly. _Can't turn back. _Slowly. _Not now. _

He opens the door.


	3. Reflections: Pensive eye

**_A/N: Once again there are minor alterations in this chapter, bringing it up to roughly 3k words._**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach!_**

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_Flashed up in my wildest dreams the dark red blood streams,_

_Stretching out like vast cracked ice..._

_The veins of you, the veins of me,_

_like great forest trees pulsing through on and in..._

_**- Lifeboats**_

For the smallest fraction of a second he does not see her. _Gone. Left .why?_But as his incandescent eyes scan the room he sees her sitting pathetically small in the far corner. _Pitiful. Sorrowful._

Her red hair is splayed out around her shoulders falling and draping over her arms and knees. She has backed herself into the corner of the room like a frightened little animal, like a fox, cowering in pain and anger. Holding her knees to her chest, her face hidden and pressed down to her knees. Hiding her face away from the world. _From myself_. He studies her form as it shakes uncontrollably. _Quivering_. _still crying_.

''Girl, cease these tears now.''

She starts at his cold voice. Her face rising quickly to be caught. _shocked. Humiliated_. She blushes to be seen and caught in her vulnerable state. _Ashamed. _His melancholy eyes regard her coolly, The fourth stares at the girl with his vivid green eyes, a clear disdain held in them.

He cannot fully comprehend how fragile and almost blind she truly is, His own senses so acute and sensitive enough to detect even the smallest temperature changes in the air, and hear the oncoming footsteps of other arrancars in Las Noches from metres upon metres. This human hadn't heard him enter the room. Were her senses so dull that she could not even hear him open her door and step inside?

The fox girl looks up at him, her eyes meeting his own. He wonders what she sees. _Monster? Scary? Heartless?_

The girls eyes are rimmed with darkness, as if she had put her fingers into charcoal and smudged it under her eyes, drawing the black from the corner of her to the other.

For a moment Ulquiorra muses that the dark lines are similar to his own, in the smallest breath, he finds some sort of comfort from seeing this image of her. To not be alone in his markings, to see a reflection of himself in another, but in some sense this thought is nothing more than an illusion-a dream, or as close to one he could achieve. After all, _her_ dark lines were born out of tiredness and nothing more. _So weak. Tired._

The young girl is startlingly small and vulnerable in comparison to him, The cuatro towers over her, Those predatory eyes portraying no emotion but simply hunter. _Predator. Prey. Mine...if only._

He allows his eyes to study her face further, Memori_z_ing each perfect detail and flaw, registering and filling away these still frames. Ulquiorra insists that this action is simply stemmed from his duty to report to his master. To carry out his studies of the girl, however he cannot rule out that a percentage of his motivation in photographing her with his left oculus, the eye which is most sensitive.

The purpose is infact for selfish reasons. Simply recording these images for himself, for a time when he will desire to see this porcelain face. Above all he is fascinated by her expressions.

The glistening tracks on her face a replica of his own permanent teal markings. _So alike my own yet opposite._

The girls cheeks are coloured the most delicious shade of pink, the result of crying and embarrassment. It was strange how these mortals cry water._Water and fire._

A salty solution that runs down heated cheeks, stemming from the soft pink tear ducts in the corner of an eye. _Cold and warm. _Her cheeks are flushed from the force of crying and still the rivers of tears flow across her hot face like a river flowing over a dessert. _Wet and dry...A Paradox. _

Nothing more than a mess of heat and disheveled hair. He could almost hear her blood pulsing life under her translucent pale skin, echoing and rushing in his ears, or was it his own pulse? _Tributaries of blood running within._

He finds that he can't breathe, his breath a sour lump in his throat. The overpowering thick scent washed over him and caused his chest to become strangely tight. C_an't breath. Can't think_.

Her scent so much stronger and more potent in this room. Everything is stained with her touch and odor, the walls the floor, the bed. _Her scent,..drawing me in. Mine_. That unfamiliar burn erupts across his skin as Judas below becomes excited once again. _Vulgar. Innocent. mine._

_No!_

she was not his to take. The arrancar knew that he should leave now before he gave himself over to the fever. _Ridiculous, _The very thought of such an idea was absurd! He has never caved into such trifle desires and this girl would not be the one to make him start, a human would not bring about his downfall. Reminding himself harshly of his pristine control, he knows he won't lose control. _I won't. _He is far better than that.

These reassurances however do not stop the feral beast within him to rise up and battle for control, the hollow within has begun to prowl, raising its head enjoying the taste of her scent in the air, but wanting more. _So much more_. Clawing painfully at his control, ripping and tearing at his bones and flesh. For once he feels disgusted at himself, he feels _hollow_, it feels as ifhis carcass is being ripped and carved apart from the inside out, the monster hungering.

An insatiable emptiness longing for fulfilment, craving and some what desiring the girl before him. _Leave_. _Can't touch. I'll only taint her. _

However, he cannot leave before he is sure she is not in any physical. Once again the fourth puts this concern for her due to his duty, he was charged as her guardian. Trying insistently to convince himself that it _is _out of duty, a duty to Aizen-sama and nothing more.

_Only duty_

''Are you in pain?''

The tears fall slow and noiselessly_. Tempting. Tantalising._

He imagines their taste, the warm liquid falling from her eyes onto his tongue_. Black, lips, her eyes. _The taste of salt and water, the taste of her_._

Orihime looks at the espada still and silent, not responding to his question. _Irritating. _She continues to stare at him intently, those large eyes not flickering away, not turning away like others have. Annoyance flares within him, Is she challenging him? _Challenging? _A challenge to who will look away first, no human has ever dared be so obstinate, no human has ever lived to do so! _But you. Different. only you, unlike others. _

Ulquiorra returns the action, watching the blues and greys of her eyes twist and crash like waves of water. Still she bores into his eyes with an unnerving intensity._Unrelenting. _Suddenly she breaks the contact, as if the spell binding her eyes to his was broken, or more likely she probably simply remembered who and what he was. _Death_

'' N-n-no..''.

The girl stammers, answering finally and fueling the blush to her cheeks further, her eyes are downcast out of embarrassment from being caught in staring, her eyes refusing to look at him, the arrancar becomes agitated, frustrated at her for such a human and pointless reaction. Those eyes no longer looking at him, he doesn't appreciate the action in the slightest.

''Then why must you cry?''

_Self inflict pain, Cry till your dry. _He does not know why he asks her such a question. _I shouldn't care. _but he cannot quench the insistent interest in this girl. _It pe__rsists._

Looking up once again and her eyes meet his, staring into his own captivating luminescent ones. Her thoughts are incoherent even to herself. _Not a monster, so beautiful and lonely too. I don't want to be alone, I don't want him_ _to be alone either._

''B-because it makes me feel human, makes me feel like I still have something to live and grieve for..'' _Ichigo, my dear friends I miss you. I am so sorry, forgive me._

She answers his question laughing nervously at the end of the explanation for having been so honest, so open. He finds It strange how she can cry and laugh within the same sentence. _Contradictions within contradictions_

''You should rest, Aizen-sama requires you to keep your energy up, or I will be _forced_ to make you rest''

Adding the threat at the end of the sentence in hopes that it will at least frighten her into obeying. _Doesn't flinch. So __brave._

"I can't sleep,... I don't like sleeping alone"

A blush stains her face yet again from her words and how they may have been interpreted. Of course Orihime had been used to living alone ever since Sora, her dear brother had passed away, but when Rangiku had stayed over at her house she had grown accustomed to having someone with her. She longed for the warmth and comfort of having another person near her.

_Leave now, foolish. Don't tempt. _

It was the first time that Ulquiorra had ever felt conflicted. His thoughts and orders overlapped one another making the _right _decision unclear. The arrancar was confused at which order to follow. _My wishes. _

Aizen-sama had instructed him to comply to her needs, to keep her energy up and ensure her health was in good condition._Aizen-samas. Follow and obey. Her wishes._

_H__er wishes,..part of my duty. _Despite this, his logic and reasoning told him that it would be dangerous to stay longer, he did not think the hollow-beast within could stay calm enough much longer in her presence.

"Perhaps, you could stay with me until I- I fell asleep?"

Her eyes locked with his own. _Pleading, desperate. Lonely._Still crouched in the corner of the room, everything else monochromatic except for the blazing ruby hair. The white vestments draped around her body like wings. _White,..oposite to black. _The inverted version of his own_._

The cuatro knows that he should say no, but then Aizen-sama wishes are her wishes too. _To hold. To dream. To comfort. _

The girl watches him closely, expecting him to call her foolish, then turn and leave. However he instead closes his eyes, the dark eyelashes dusting his high cheek bones and casting shadows under his eyes. In the light of the moon spilling in through her barred windows, it truly looks like he is crying. _So sad and beautiful that it hurts,..Ulquiorra._

"Thats if you don't mind, if it's too much then,.. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to.." Her words trail off, silencing, but not before she quietly whispers knowing he will still hear "Forget I said anything, I'm sorry."

After closing his eyes for a brief moment in an attempt to get a better judgement of the predicament he is in, he re-opens them and looks at the fire haired girl. He shouldn't do it, but then he didn't give a good god damn about redemption.

''As you wish''

Orihime could scarcely believe her ears, she had expected many different answers, but not one so, _so gracious. _Even though it was all still said in that beautiful, icy apathetic voice of his, it seemed to have an undertone of something gentler.

The cuarto gracefully walked over to the girl who still had her knees clutched to her chest. She marveled at how fluid his movements were, similiar to flowing water or notes of music.

She had always wanted to be graceful, often wishing to be able to walk as fluidly as Rukia did. People turned to watch Rukia walk by, especially the boys in high school, even at times she had seen Ichigo follow her movements from the corner of his eye. The only time people watched Orihime was when she tripped over her shoes and fell flat on the ground.

Ulquiorra reaches out his cold hands, his arm slipps under the crook of her knees while the other encircles her back and lifts her up easily but gently. _Weightless, Soft and Warm. _A squeal emits from her pearl lips in protest, embarrassment once again filling her thoughts and staining her cheeks.

However she is truly too tired to object, the sleepless nights taking their toll on her body and mind. Even her eyes feel warm and have begun to sting slightly._I'm s__o sick of crying, no more. _His body is cold and Icy, It seeps through the siff fabric of his uniform into her own form, but instead of recoiling from the sharp temperature she finds it pleasant, cooling, like ice on a burn.

It was such an intimate action to be held closely to his muscular lean chest and the perfectly sculpted arms holding her tightly. It was Orihimes first time at being picked up in such a way by another, but she knew theaction mean't nothing to him, it held no feelings or emotions.

The espada is careful in holding her. _Not too tight. Breakable. _He places her on the soft bed gently. _So breakable. Careful. _On the white folds of the blankets she appears like a precious china doll in the safety of white wrapping paper.

Unsure of his next actions he turns to leave and decides to go stand or perhaps sit on the chair in the furthest corner of the white room. _Far from her. Safest. _Putting the first step between them he feels her small hand grip his arm_, _grasping as if her life depended on it. _Need. _

His cold eyes turn on her to find that she is shaking uncontrollably once again, tears welling up in her glass like eyes. _Frightened. Of me? _The girls body persists in shaking forcefully, while the heavy full tears threaten to stain her face. _Shaking. Need. Comfort_.

Ulquiorra makes an oath that he will not harm her. In taking a deep breath for a moment he ensures that his carnal hollow is imprisoned. _Yes, under control. _His feral beast has been controlled, tightly bound within the deepest corners of his mind. Following theinstinct and duty to protect her, to follow Aizen-samas orders to guard her and comply to her needs. _Will not hurt. Will not taint._

_What does she want? _Her small frame continues quaking, untill it seems that it will shatter like glass, he see's his own face reflected in the mirror of her eyes. _Frightened to be alone, stop fear. Comfort. _

''I will hold you until you fall asleep and your tears end''

Orihimes eyes widen, but she does not speak, afraid that if she does he will disappear, in response she only nodds her head gently.

He is hesitant for a second, not sure if he is even comfortable to be so familiar with another creature, but it should not matter whether he is content in this action, regardless, it is only duty. Chanting continuously in his head ''_Aizen-samas orders,'' _it allows him to fully go through with the promise._ A promise, no, o__nly orders. Duty._

His marble arms slowly enwrap her soft frame. _Not too tight. Like glass. It can shatter. _She lies her body down, while he sits weightlessly on the bed his arms holding and stilling the shaking girl.

_Time moves fast__..._

_Time moves slow..._

_Time stands Still._

Her body rests against his, her head lying on his lap with her hair entangled around their forms. It seems as if the very threads of her hair are entwining their bodies together.

The contrast of their white uniforms against the red amber hair is stark and enthralling to the espada's eyes. _The sun. _He indulges his eyes on the rare splash of colour, unusual to see such a fascinating colour._red,...blood._

The espadas arms hold her securely, like iron bars encasing crystal. At somepointduring the course of the never ending night, the girls own hands had moved and gripped onto his unconciously. _Holding, preciously._

Orihime eventually fell into a peaceful sleep in _his_ arms. _Strange. Never before. _He marvels at her in his arms as a child would perhaps hold a captured butterfly. Fearful to hurt it and terrifyingly scared of how fragile it is. _A fluttering heart._

Ulquiorra now allows his eyes to fully admire her face, no longer having to be careful for fear of being seen. The heat emitting from her body is intoxicating. _So warm. Alive_. It was a warmth never before experienced_._ He knew he would miss this heat when he would be forced to leave. _Inevitable._

He looks one last time at the sleeping girl, it feels as if her body is vibrating with life beneath his fingertips. He has numerous times before wrenched a beating heart from his enemies chest. Silently relishing at the feel of the vascular organ beating in his palm, waiting patiently until it stopped - Never had he held a heart _within_ a person.

Feeling its beat echoing through out her. _Blood. coursing within. Taste...Mine. _Even the small sensitive nerves that cover his hollow mask are effected and shaking from the warmth she radiates. It seeps into his dead flesh, filling his hollow, broken bones.

The beast once again awakens and tears it's teeth into his brain. Waking from it's dormant sleep hungry and savage. It begins to pull at his restraint, fighting and clawing. His senses influx, becoming further heightened and acute, realising fully only now how her scent has engulfed him_. Take, mine.. To protect. _

No, he could not stay longer, he would have to leave now before the beast became uncontrollable_. _

Flexing his arms sub consciously tighter and looking one last time at the sleeping girl_. _Her lashes adorned with the remaining tear drops that had not fallen or dried out. _Like diamonds. _

He shifts her body from his and places her within the comfort of the large bed. Already the loss of the contact is somewhat...painful. The girl curls into the blankets, her face pressing into the pillows while still asleep.

His hand reaches out to faintly draw his index finger across her jaw line and down to her sternum, this time his index does not penetrate or charge a cero, it simply rests against the smooth skin, feeling the pulse pounding within the cages of her ribs. _Your heart_.

Exiting through the chamber door it seems almost a lifetime ago when he had first entered this room, the first time being when she had arrived to the prison of Las Noches.

With one last look of the mortal girl he contemplates, _Weak? No,...Merely fragile._


End file.
